Hey guys, I want to put in this A pillar pod in my car and put in one of the two Air/Fuel ratio gauges I have listed below.

Question 1: If I do this how do I hook them up? Do I need the oxygen sensor kid listed below? Do I need a wiring harness? Can I use a sock oxygen sensor? Any information would be geatly appretiated.

Question 2: What gauge to you guys like better? The Nordskog has a lifetime waranty but the autometer is a well...autometer. Do you guys have any experience with these?



www.summitracing.com

1. AutoMeter Full Pillar Pod, Tripple 2 1/16
ATM-12203 $58.95


2a. Nordskog Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge
NRD-m7009 $45.95
or
2b. AutoMeter Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge
ATM-4775 $61.88


3. AutoMeter oxygen sensor kit
ATM-2244 $91.95

 

I looked into getting an a/f guage but from the people i've talked to that have them they say that it's more for just looks and that it isn't useful for tuning. However i'd like to hear some more peoples opinions on this subject. It'd be a real nice tuning aid if it worked and was acurate.

 

The problem is that the sensors aren't accurate except at WOT, otherwise they jump around too much. However, if u have a wideband setup most controllers have narrowband output, but it is more accurate as it is based off of the WB sensor

 

The jumpyness everwhere but wot actually tells you alot. The cpu is trying to make the engine produce those o2 levels. These sensors are especially usefull on cars with power adders. Theyll let you know if you tune is ok or way to lean.

 

It just seems better than buying a seperate piece of electronics that cost $350 and you can't always have it on. This way it is always letting me know what is going on. Just seems like a good way to know if you are choking your engine or you just need more fuel.

 

Well that isn't gonna really be that accurate, and only somewhat accurate at WOT. The narrowband (stock) sensors are only accurate around 14.7:1 air/fuel ratio, and for the best power you would be around 12.7:1-13.0:1 ratio, so that wouldn't be as accurate in that range. For the $350, you can tune idle, WOT, crusing, and anything in between. I run a commander 950, and i have 2 differnet air/fuel maps in my computer, a "crusing" map, that is tuned around 16:1 ratio for good gas milage (i drive a lot on the highway) and a "power" map that keeps it around 13:1. I used the wideband sensor that the dyno had, and set my maps there, but i will be getting my own WB 02 setup so i can so it myself, after i get the new motor in. Especially now that you can get a stock volkswagon 02 sensor that is a true wideband for about $30 dollars online, and use that, i pay almost that for a narrowband one!
Oh, and you can always have it on. just have the controller inside the car. it'll have it's own display. It has a narrowband output so that you can hook it up to your stock computer, and even the autometer guage if you want to still do that. It'll even be more accurate since the narrowband output will be based off of the readings of the wideband sensor.

 

Did i understand that correctly, if i replaced my current stock o2 sensor with one from a volkswagon an a/f ratio guage would be acurate and i wouldn't have to touch anything on my computer for it to work?

 

no, you'd have to cough up the 350 for the wideband controller, then you could run the VW sensors. and you'd have to hook up one wire from the controller to the computer (the one that used to come from your stock 02 sensor).

 

Oh, ok. Not sure if it's worth $350 but i'll look into it more to see what benefits i'll get from it. Thanks.

 

Does anybody else have any ideas?